Battle-weary firefighters were nearing full containment on Tuesday of the massive Springs fire, which scorched 28,000 acres of Ventura County and came close to jumping the county line into Los Angeles County. As The Malibu Times went to press, the fire was 95 percent contained, with all visible flames put out and the focus mainly on smoldering hot spots that pose flare-up risks and officials predicting full containment by the evening.
Eight firefighters suffered minor injuries out of nearly 2,000 personnel called in to help battle the flames. The fire damaged 15 houses, destroyed 10 other structures and cost $10 million to battle, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
The ending stages on Tuesday were a stark contrast to the havoc wreaked on 44 square miles of Ventura County last Thursday and Friday, when the wind-driven, brush-fueled Springs fire blazed a westward trail from Highway 101 in Camarillo to the Pacific Ocean at Point Mugu, not far northwest of Malibu. At its closest point, the Springs fire burned two miles from county line and 7-8 miles from the Malibu city limits.
“It did get relatively close to us and hopefully it serves as a wake-up call,” said Maria Grycan, a Los Angeles County Fire Department community services liaison based out of Malibu. “We definitely dodged a bullet.”
Thankfully for firefighters, a drastic weekend weather shift gave them a bit of an upper hand. Late Friday and early Saturday, a cool marine layer drifted in from the Pacific Ocean and light precipitation fell throughout the county. The cooldown came after the fire had torn through Newbury Park, Camarillo, much of Point Mugu and caused the evacuation of neighborhoods throughout the affected areas and also the Cal State Channel Islands campus.
The fire also tore through 12,000 acres of Point Mugu State Park, 300 acres of brush at Point Mugu Naval base and partially damaged a shooting range at the base.
Investigators have ruled out arson as a possible cause for the fire, the Ventura County Star reported, but said some kind of “roadside ignition” such as an engine backfiring could have led to the fire, which sparked on the side of Highway 101 in Camarillo around 6:30 a.m. Thursday.
Pacific Coast Highway between Mulholland Highway and Las Posas Road was intermittently shut down between Thursday and Saturday, twice when the fire reached PCH hillsides and the Point Mugu area, and again over a fear of possible rockslides once the flames were extinguished.
On Saturday, Caltrans obtained $2.5 million in emergency funding to install approximately 3 miles of fencing and K-rails for protection against falling debris along Pacific Coast Highway between Mulholland Road and Las Posas Road after the fire loosened hillside topsoil, rocks and other debris. A Caltrans official estimated the installation would be complete by the end of this week and a geologist ruled out a risk of landslides, though a second assessment is set to take place once the fencing and railings are completed.
Malibu ‘dodges a bullet’ in Springs Fire
While Malibu city officials never deemed the Springs Fire as a direct threat to Malibu, its occurrence so early in the year has many officials around the state warning of heightened risk through the rest of the year.
“We are seeing conditions that we don’t normally see until September or October,” Grycan said. “It’s taken us all a little bit by surprise. We’ve been lucky the past few years to not have a major fire event. We may not be as lucky this year.”
To prepare against fire emergencies, county officials advise homeowners to get all dry brush cleared by the June 1 county deadline and fill out a fire readiness plan online at fire.lacounty.gov.
